Current Warrior men’s basketball coach takes over women’s soccer program

BROCKTON, Mass. ---- Massasoit Community College Athletics Director Julie Mulvey recently announced that Jim Stapleton has been named the new women’s soccer head coach for the Warriors.

Stapleton becomes the eighth women’s soccer head coach in program history.

No stranger to Massasoit, Stapleton will be entering his 14th season as the men’s basketball coach and served as the assistant women’s soccer coach a season ago. Stapleton recently won his 200th career game leading the Massasoit men’s basketball program and is the all-time leader in program history in victories with 203.

“Jim is very energetic and will do a great job leading our women’s soccer program,” Athletics Director Julie Mulvey said. “He’s been around Massasoit, knows how to recruit and has plenty of connections in the high school soccer ranks. We are excited for the upcoming season.”

Known for his coaching experience on the hardwood since 2001 with the Warriors, Stapleton has 12 years of coaching soccer at the high school ranks.

“I’m really excited to coach the women’s soccer team this season,” Stapleton said. “I think with a strong group of returners and newcomers we have a chance to be very successful. The key will be to get the roster size up to 16 to 18 kids.”

Stapleton takes over a team that advanced to the New England Region XXI Finals in 2013 and has three returning all-region student-athletes. The Warriors finished last season 6-9-0 overall and 6-3 in divisional games.

Stapleton’s soccer-coaching career started at Groveton High School (Groveton, N.H.) in 1988 as an assistant boy’s soccer coach. After one season, he served as an assistant at Walpole High School from 1989-1993 for the girl’s team.

Stapleton went on to spend three seasons, from 1994-97, as the head coach of the North Attleboro boy’s team and was named Sun Chronicle Coach of the Year in 1995. During his tenure North Attleboro made the MIAA State Playoffs three times as Stapleton inherited a program that had only made postseason play once in school history prior to his arrival.

He later went on to be the head coach of the Stoughton High School girl’s soccer squad from 1998-2000.

Over the last 10-plus years, Stapleton has been around the game of soccer at the youth, club and high school levels due to his two kids, Tess and David. Tess played two years at UMass-Dartmouth (2011-12), while David will be a student-athlete this fall as a freshman soccer player at Curry College.

A Brockton native, Stapleton teaches eighth grade history at South Middle School.

Former Warrior basketball player set to join the Savage Storm for 2014-15 season

BROCKTON, Mass. ---- Massasoit Community College forward Antonio Ferreira (Stoughton) recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Southeastern Oklahoma State (Durant, Okla.) for the 2014-15 season.

Ferreira, who will have three years of eligibility to play for the Savage Storm, provided a great inside-outside presence for Massasoit in his lone season in Brockton.

The 6-foot-3 small forward averaged 16.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game en route to total seven double-doubles and a spot on the All-Region XXI First Team. His point and rebound averages were good for second and third amongst Region XXI Division II players.

In 21 games played, the Stoughton, Mass., native reached double figures 18 times, including a career-high 26-point showing vs. the University of Connecticut at Avery Point (UCAP). In addition, Ferreira scored 20-plus points in six games last season.

On the year, Ferreira shot 35 percent from 3-point range, knocking down at least one 3-pointer in 19 of 21 games. He connected for a season-high four treys in a 25-point performance against Bunker Hill CC in which he shot 10-for-14 overall from the floor and 4-of-6 from downtown.

Ferreira joins Southeastern Oklahoma State, which is a NCAA Division II affiliate and member of the Great American Conference (GAC). Last season, the Storm finished 9-18 overall and 6-14 in league play.

Nagle is first All-American First Team selection for Warriors since 2005

BROCKTON, Mass. ---- Sophomores Luke Nagle (Pembroke) and Travis Ritchie (Taunton) were named NJCAA Division III Baseball All-Americans recently announced by the national office. Nagle was selected to the first team, while Ritchie earned a nod on the third team.

Nagle, a right-handed pitcher and cleanup hitting first baseman became the first Massasoit baseball player named to the NJCAA All-American First Team since left-handed pitcher Kyle Fernandes in 2005. He is also just the 10th student-athlete in program history to earn All-American First Team accolades.

Nagle along with Ritchie, the team’s leadoff hitter and centerfielder, were named to the All-Region XXI First Team as well.

In addition, it marks the first time two players off the same Massasoit team were named All-Americans since the 2010 campaign (John Ferreira & Corey Batista).

#15 Luke Nagle, 1B/RHP, Pembroke, Mass.
• NJCAA All-American – First Team
• All-Region XXI – First Team
One of if not the best two-way players in the region, Nagle produced both at the plate and on the mound in his second year with the Warriors. The cleanup hitter posted a .394 batting average along with a 5-2 record on the bump. At the plate he finished fourth in the league in RBI (29) and fifth in hits (55). In 32 games played, he recorded 14 multi-hit games and eight 3-hit performances. On the mound his win total ranked third in the conference. Nagle totaled 40 strikeouts, fourth most in the league, to only eight walks and his 2.51 ERA finished third in the division.

#12 Travis Ritchie, OF, Taunton, Mass.
• NJCAA All-American – Third Team
• All-Region XXI – First Team
Ritchie served as the leadoff hitter and centerfielder for the Warriors, posting a .437 batting average, clubbing two homers and 19 RBI. The sophomore led the league in hits (55), runs (46), total bases (79) and triples (6). He also finished third in both on-base (.514) and slugging (.627) percentage. Ritchie hit even better in league games, posting a .462 clip, and hit an impressive .600 (27-for-45) with 10 extra-base hits in home contests. The Taunton native scored a run and had a hit in 28 of 35 games with 18 multi-hit showings. In addition, Ritchie recorded a 17-game hit steak, which he hit .500 (30-for-60) over that stretch.

ROCHESTER, Minn. ---- The No. 8 Massasoit Warriors fell behind in the first half and could not recover, dropping a 68-53 contest to No. 5 Sullivan County CC (N.Y.) on Friday at the NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Tournament.

Massasoit (16-8) awaits to play the loser between No. 2 Ogandaga and No. 6 West Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday to close out tournament action.

The Warriors, just like Thursday against Rock Valley were able to press the Generals into committing miscues, a total of 32 turnovers, featuring 20 steals. Unfortunately, Massasoit was unable to capitalize on its opportunities, shooting just 20.9 percent (18-for-86) overall from the floor. In fact, the Warriors shot the same in each half, 9-for-43.

"I think our press was effective and gave us plenty of chances to score, but we could not finish on the offensive end," head coach Mark Brathwaite said. "And we played as individuals and not as a team."

Massasoit finished with 16 more shots than Sullivan County, 86 to 70, but the Generals shot slightly better overall at 35.7 percent (25-for-70).

"We hurt ourselves. We were not keeping our spacing on the floor and not running the offense like we can," Brathwaite said. "(Sullivan County) did a good job of clogging the middle and helping on defense that shut down some of our dribble drive. We just couldn't knock down any shots."

Sullivan County (26-3) built up a 40-23 lead at the break, thanks to shooting 47.1 percent as a team and receiving 15 of 19 points from shooting guard Briana Rhett prior to halftime.

The Green and White played neck and neck with Sullivan County after intermission and actually outscored the Generals 30-28. However, the big first half hole proved to be too much as the Warriors were unable to get any closer than 14 points.

Ashley Andrade (Randolph) paced Massasoit with a double-double, scoring 18 points and adding 12 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass. Fredi Lawson (Boston/J.E. Burke HS) chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds, as her streak of consecutive double-doubles came to an end at 12 straight games.

"Ashley (Andrade) was the lone Warrior out there for us," Brathwaite said. "She tried her hardest to carry us with her effort, but we just couldn't string anything together as a team."

Sullivan County was led by Regina Steele's 21 points and 12 rebounds. Rhett added 19 including a trio of 3-pointers.

NOTES: Massasoit has forced 55 turnovers through two tournament games…Warriors are only shooting 24.4 (41-for-168) percent at the tournament…Massasoit has attempted 30 more shots than its opponents at the tournament (168 to 138)…Lawson has scored in double figures in all 23 games she has played in this season.

Baseball Drops Pair Of Close Games To Open 2014 Season
March 14, 2014

Warriors look to rebound on Saturday

VERO BEACH, Fla. ---- The Massasoit CC baseball team would strike first in both games on Friday, but saw those early leads slip away, falling to Ontario Academy 5-4 and Miami-Hamilton University (Ohio) 5-3 to open the 2014 season at the Historical Dodgertown Complex.

Massasoit (0-2) still has seven games to play on its Spring Break trip and will take on Ontario Academy on Saturday at 1 p.m ET.

"We just had a bad day of baseball today," head coach Tom Frizzell said. "We have seven more games to go on this trip and tomorrow we will work really hard on our defense. We need to play better overall and find ways to drive in runs. We are playing a very challenging schedule down here and it doesn't get any easier."

Game 1: Ontario Academy 5, Massasoit 4
In the first game of the 2014 campaign, the Warriors had an opportunity to tie the score in the top of the seventh but were unable to capitalize, stranding a runner on first and falling 5-4 to Ontario Academy.

"We had RBI opportunities throughout the game, we were just unable to take advantage," Frizzell said. "We didn't get that big hit when we needed it."

The Warriors would strike first in the game, pushing across a run in the top of the second inning.

That slim lead would not last long, as Ontario would respond with a three-spot in the last of the second frame.

After Ontario expanded its lead to 5-1, Massasoit tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth, but left the bases loaded.

Trailing 5-3, in the seventh, the Warriors pulled within a run, but could get no closer dropping the season opener.

For the game, the Warriors would strand seven runners on base.

Matt Levasseur (Milton) produced a strong freshman debut, going 2-for-4 with an RBI at the plate. Trevor Packard (Brockton) scored two runs in the loss.

On the mound, freshman Sam Devine (Taunton/Coyle Cassidy HS) was a bright spot, firing two scoreless frames out of the Warrior bullpen.

Game 2: Miami-Hamilton University 5, Massasoit 3
Reigning NJCAA All-American Joe Walsh (Taunton) went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, but the Warriors were unable to cash in on scoring opportunities, falling 5-3 to Miami-Hamilton University.

Just as the Warriors did in the first game of the day, they would strike first scoring twice in the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Miami-Hamilton fought back to even up the score in the fourth and take the lead for good in the fifth inning of action.

Massasoit would again have plenty of scoring chances, but left two runners on base in the third and sixth innings, along with stranding the bases loaded in the fourth.

Starter David Tarr (Easton/Cardinal Spellman HS) went the first five innings for the Warriors, allowing three earned runs. The sophomore southpaw struck out six in his first appearance of the season.

Walsh recorded a double as part of his three hit day at the plate and added one RBI.